The Bachelor Baker

Melissa shot him a frown and looked like she wanted to say something when the bell over the door announced a new customer, giving Brian the perfect reason to leave the back room and let Amanda and Melissa get back to their work.

Whitney Leigh, reporter for the Gazette, Bygones’s official newspaper, stood just inside the bakery, her bright eyes behind her glasses flitting around the room as if looking for something she wasn’t finding, her bun like a tight knot at the nape of her neck. She had a camera bag slung over one shoulder and a tape recorder in her hand. Her tailored blazer and narrow skirt looked out of place in a town where most people wore the first thing they grabbed out of the closet, but Whitney liked to look put together. In charge. In control.

“Hey, Brian,” Whitney said when her eyes alighted on him. “I heard you were working here.”

“Hardly worth putting in your paper,” he said, unable to keep the prickly note out of his voice. He could already see the potential picture and accompanying article. Brian Montclair, former mechanic, now baker, complete with pink-striped apron. “What can I do for you?”

“I’d like to talk to Melissa.”

“What about?”

Whitney shrugged. “Just some questions about Mr. Moneybags.”

Brian turned to get Melissa from the back where she was working with Amanda, but she already stood behind him, still holding the envelope containing the letter.

“What can I help you with?” Melissa asked, slipping the letter inside the pocket of her apron.

“Just a few questions. I’m doing an ongoing series on Mr. Moneybags—?”

“Who?” Brian asked.

Whitney raised her hand as she took a few steps closer.

“The mysterious benefactor. The guy with the bags of money,” she said with a shrug. “I’m doing an investigative piece for the Gazette.”

“I’m afraid I can’t help you,” Melissa said. “And I’m not from around here, so I can’t even begin to speculate.”

“Then I’d like to ask you what made you decide to come to Bygones.”

“It was the opportunity to start a new business. Something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Brian was surprised to hear the pleasure in Melissa’s voice, the satisfaction in her smile.

“And you were given no indication of who the money came from that helped you start this business?”

Melissa shook her head. “Only that it was administered through the SOS Committee, that I had to commit to staying for two years and that I had to hire locals from Bygones. But I had no idea who held the purse strings.”

Which is how he got this amazing job, Brian thought.

At least it was work, he reminded himself. Grandpa was happier than he’d been in years.

Whitney tapped her lower lip with one manicured finger, as if thinking. “I don’t know why Mr. Moneybags is so secretive. Which makes me even more curious.” She flashed Brian and Melissa a grin. “One way or the other, I’m figuring out who this person is.”